Critérium du Dauphiné 08/12 > 08/16/20

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Nope.

Погле'ај поново.

He means if he were to be able to magically appear at the front at the exact right time, without having to battle for position the past 5k and spend energy.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

I think so too. He knows he doesn't have the form to win here and he would be risking a crash in a finish like this. He would be more useful in the stages to come.

He's making a mistake imo not trying to get involved in semi-dangerous finishes. Suddenly he's going to be pitched in to a typically hairy Tour stage 1 having faced nothing like that since crashing badly over a year ago

 

[sir fly]

He means if he were to be able to magically appear at the front at the exact right time, without having to battle for position the past 5k and spend energy.

And I mean count the bike lengths between them at the beginning of the final pitch and across the finish line.

 

[jaylew]

And I mean count the bike lengths between them at the beginning of the final pitch and across the finish line.

Jumbo>MS

I might have missed it but it didn't look like Impey had any teammates help position him for the final.

 

[bigcog]

He dropped to the back of the Peleton, tried to move up but didn't have it and then called it a day. He'll need to perform over the next few days to get his tour place.

It looked like that happened, but bit strange if that's the case as he put in a couple of decent turns on the climbs in the previous race.

 

[sir fly]

Jumbo>MS

I might have missed it but it didn't look like Impey had any teammates help position him for the final.

Yes.
Spent far more energy in the final kilometres to work his way through than Van Aert did... And almost caught him at the line.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Yes.
Spent far more energy in the final kilometres to work his way through than Van Aert did... And almost caught him at the line.

Seriously? Van Aert was bridging at the front when Uran went, i doubt Impey burned more matches in the bunch. Especially since the tempo dropped a bit later.

 

[sir fly]

Seriously? Van Aert was bridging at the front when Uran went, i doubt Impey burned more matches in the bunch. Especially since the tempo dropped a bit later.

Seriously.

 

[Volderke]

You realize, in order to be in 2nd position like WvA in the last KM, he didn't get there without spending some energy...?

 

[ppanther92]

At the moment Sagan is not at a peak... don´t know if he will be in form for the tour..
Bora had only Buchmann in the final group of 56 riders. Don´t know if Großschartner, Mühlberger and Kämna saved their energy or if it was really weekness.

I already wrote that yesterday - Bora's climbin does not really look good right now. They seem to be all behind where they should be right now (or maybe others are peaking too early). But maybe Buchmann will show some good climbing legs in the Dauphine.

Bora got some hype when Konrad and Mühlberger dominitad Sibiu (against weak competition) and Großschartner won the uphill sprint. But in fact all 3 didn't deliver when they faced stronger competition. They were way below their usual level. Same was true for Schachmann to some extent in Poland.

 

[Escarabajo]

I have never seen so many big guns at the front in a group. Except for Froome, everyone else was there.

 

[Krokro]

Impressive domination from WVA lately.

It seemed quite obvious that the kid was going to kill it in road cycling regarding his CX pedigree but, well, he has been a real beast since a few seasons.

And he seems to improve every single year!

 

[jmdirt]

Impressive domination from WVA lately.

It seemed quite obvious that the kid was going to kill it in road cycling regarding his CX pedigree but, well, he has been a real beast since a few seasons.

And he seems to improve every single year!

Even more of a freak than I estimated!

 

[BlueRoads]

I could not watch the race, but looking at the results Impey is the one who surprised me the most. Valverde was a little bit better than I had expected, to be honest. Alaphilippe slightly disappointing. Otherwise not so many surprises, but, like I said, I did not watch it, so no context.

 

[tobydawq]

I could not watch the race, but looking at the results Impey is the one who surprised me the most. Valverde was a little bit better than I had expected, to be honest. Alaphilippe slightly disappointing. Otherwise not so many surprises, but, like I said, I did not watch it, so no context.

It was a weird and technical final stretch, so positioning was extremely important.

But yes, very impressive especially by Impey.

 

[hayneplane]

Personally I think Ned Boulting is the best commentator and really knows his stuff, but Phil Liggett is very hype for the big moments

Ned Boulting is an awesome guy. If you interact on his Twitter he frequently responds to comments both cycling and non cycling related.

 

[yaco]

I could not watch the race, but looking at the results Impey is the one who surprised me the most. Valverde was a little bit better than I had expected, to be honest. Alaphilippe slightly disappointing. Otherwise not so many surprises, but, like I said, I did not watch it, so no context.

Impey's performance is no surprise on that type of parcours - This would also have been a nice finish for Matthews if he was in the race.

 

[geisterhome]

I already wrote that yesterday - Bora's climbin does not really look good right now. They seem to be all behind where they should be right now (or maybe others are peaking too early). But maybe Buchmann will show some good climbing legs in the Dauphine.

Bora got some hype when Konrad and Mühlberger dominitad Sibiu (against weak competition) and Großschartner won the uphill sprint. But in fact all 3 didn't deliver when they faced stronger competition. They were way below their usual level. Same was true for Schachmann to some extent in Poland.

Kämna had a strong showing at Burgos. Mühlberger did well at Strade Bianche. Schachmann is in shape but he might not have his best climbing legs right now. I think they will be fine. Most likely they won't have to control the race like Ineos or Jumbo, they will be outsiders with not much expected of them.
If Buchmann is really challenging for the yellow jersey they might miss Majka or Konrad tho, their potentially two best climbers apart from Buchmann.

Who seems out of shape is Sagan, I don't expect much from him at the Tour, can't see him claiming another green jersey either.

 

[tobydawq]

Who seems out of shape is Sagan, I don't expect much from him at the Tour, can't see him claiming another green jersey either.

I wouldn't go that far. He has certainly looked bad so far post corona but I would be shocked if he doesn't end up in green.

 

[Jspear]

I wouldn't go that far. He has certainly looked bad so far post corona but I would be shocked if he doesn't end up in green.

Aye. He could not win a stage and as he has done in the past, he’ll still win the green jersey.

 

[Blanco]

Impressive domination from WVA lately.

It seemed quite obvious that the kid was going to kill it in road cycling regarding his CX pedigree but, well, he has been a real beast since a few seasons.

And he seems to improve every single year!

He is a real beast since two weeks ago.., not before

 

[tobydawq]

He is a real beast since two weeks ago.., not before

That's just not true. Maybe you should rewatch Roubaix last year and not just see that he was 30th or something. Maybe rewatch Dauphiné as well, winning bunch sprints and literally killing Dumoulin and the rest in the TT.

 

[hayneplane]

Would still be shocked if Sagan didn’t win the Green Jersey barring a crash or DQ.

The most suited to challenge is Van Aert but he will be on a leash most days on team GC duty.

There are less sprints than usual and no obvious standout to sweep 4 stages and challenge that way.

Matthews isn’t there and I don’t see Kristoff or Degenkolb getting over enough lumpy obstacles to cash in on intermediate sprints.

If the scoring system was like the Vuelta then Pogacar would be a decent long shot pick.

If Movistar GC ambitions implode early is their any possibility Valverde could be tempted to have a crack at the points competition.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

He is a real beast since two weeks ago.., not before

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE-jWy6iUPE

 

[sir fly]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE-jWy6iUPE

He means he hasn't been scoring on the road like a beast since a couple of weeks ago.